NYPD to name boat after fallen Harlem cop Phillip Cardillo, fatally shot by Nation of Islam radicals in 1972

Phillip Cardillo's son Todd Joseph Cardillo stands in front of the 28th precinct in 2012 during a 40th anniversary memorial service for his father. (Mariela Lombard/for New York Daily News)

Call it a floating olive branch.

An NYPD boat will be named after a Harlem cop killed 43 years ago by Nation of Islam radicals — after repeated failures to have a street in the neighborhood where he was killed renamed in his honor.

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On Tuesday, an NYPD Harbor Unit in Brooklyn will christen the boat for Officer Phillip Cardillo, who was shot and killed inside a mosque run by Louis Farrakhan in 1972.

For the last four decades, Cardillo's family has tried to get the street in front of the 28th Precinct renamed after the fallen cop, but all attempts have been quashed by Harlem's Community Board 10, which fears the street renaming would displease local Muslims and "open old wounds."

Last year, Commissioner Bill Bratton seemed to distance himself from the push, saying the community should make the decision.

The racially charged incident began when Cardillo, 31, his partner, Vito Navarra, and two other officers entered Mohammad Mosque No. 7 on W. 116th St. and Lenox Ave. — where Malcolm X once preached — after receiving a 911 call about a detective in need of assistance. The call turned out to be bogus, and there were suspicions the officers had been set up.

The two cops were quickly overpowered by about 15 men. During the attack, someone took Cardillo's gun and shot him in the chest.

Cardillo’s grandson, T.J., and son Todd Joseph attend a memorial service for the fallen officer. (Mariela Lombard/for New York Daily News)

The father of three young children, Cardillo died six days later.

At the time, Farrakhan said the cops came "charging into our temple like criminals and were treated like criminals."

Given the political tensions at the time, the city apologized for what they called a police "invasion." Neither Mayor John Lindsay nor Police Commissioner Patrick Murphy attended Cardillo's funeral, said retired NYPD Detective Randy Jergensen, who wrote about the murder in his book, "Circle of Six."

Family members Chris Cardillo (l.) hugs retired police officer Ritchie Miller (r., who was the first NYPD partner to Phillip Cardillo) at the gravesite of police officer Phillip Cardillo in April 2014. (Debbie Egan-Chin/New York Daily News)

The main suspect in the shooting, Louis 17X Dupree, who now goes by the name Khalid Ali and is in his 70s, twice stood trial for the killing. The first trial ended in a hung jury, and he was acquitted in the second.

The NYPD's Major Case Squad is still investigating the shooting, officials said.

Family members cannot understand why a simple street renaming could cause such a controversy.

"Haven't we come far enough as a society to not be afraid of a race riot and tell the truth?" Christopher Cardillo, 47, the fallen cop's first cousin said in an interview last year. "If we can't seek justice, then the least we can do is have a proper dedication to an officer who lost his life in the performance of his duty."

Calls seeking comment from Community Board 10 were not immedately returned.